Label Guide: San Francisco

There were two separate and unrelated San Francisco Records labels in the United States:

San Francisco Records (1950s) was a label founded and owned by Alan Levitt, a local radio DJ who started his own radio station (KSFR) in 1958.

San Francisco Records (1960s) was launched in 1969 by promoter Bill Graham and brothers Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegün of Atlantic Records. Just a few months earlier, Graham launched Fillmore Records in cooperation with CBS Records, and the San Francisco imprint was Atlantic's attempt to capitalize on the legend that Bill Graham already was at that time. The label signed on acts like Tower Of Power and Cold Blood, but the same (likely personal not financial) issues that led to the closure of Graham's Fillmore East and West, also meant the end for San Francisco Records by the end of 1971.